As the release of the Apple Watch looms large over the smart watch industry, all eyes have been on wearable manufacturers to see who’s going to try and compete with the industry goliath.
Many established smart watch and fitness wearables vendors have stepped up, and prepped new products in an attempt to lure potential customers away from Apple’s siren song. One example is Pebble’s sleek, kickstarter-funded Pebble Time, which boasts a color e-paper display.
But smart watches aren’t the only players making waves in the wearables market. Smart wearable fitness and sports devices have become hugely popular, with the global market for these devices growing at a CAGR of 25.38 percent.
A lot of companies in the market are investing huge amounts in R&D to develop new products geared towards everyone, from couch potatoes to high performance athletes. CES 2015 saw the release of some interesting new, goal-specific fitness wearables, including Vert and Bablot Play.
Vert is a wearable device specially designed to improve jumping capability, which has become hugely popular with basketball and volleyball players. Bablot play is a tennis racket used to record information such as total and effective play time, technique, shot power, and consistency.
One of the interesting offshoots of growth in the fitness wearables market is the related growth in the Global Wearable Fitness and Sport Services Market, which is posting a CAGR of 29.90 percent from 2014-2019. While it’s not nearly as swanky as the devices themselves, services like data plans for fitness devices will have a big impact on market growth and encourage more consumers to seek out these devices over the forecast period.
More Strategic Alliances Expected between Telecom and Wearable Providers
A lot of established telecommunication providers are collaborating with smart wearable device providers to support and boost the development of this technology. These telecom providers are aiming to integrate their services with smart devices to provide innovative offerings and expand their market base.
For example, in 2014, Telefonica collaborated with Samsung, Sony Mobile, and LG to support the development of their wearables.
Some of the services offered by key vendors in the Global Smart Wearable Fitness and Sports Devices and Services market include:
The wearables industry—be it smart watches or fitness trackers—is only going to grow. As companies like Apple enter the fray and other vendors pile on the R&D dollars to compete, focus will increasingly turn to services and functionality as a way for key players to stay competitive and stay afloat in the market.
